Why are some features turned off in Outlook.com?

If you have a new Outlook.com account, some of the features might be turned off to help thwart spammers. The features will be available once you’ve used your Outlook.com account for a few days. To turn on the features right away, go to the Add a phone page to verify your account with a mobile phone number.

Here are some of the features that might be turned off for new accounts:

Sending automated vacation replies (auto reply option)

Email signature

POP aggregation (use Outlook.com to send and receive email from any address)

Forwarding email

Reply-To address (receive replies to Outlook.com email at a different email address)

Send-As address (send email in Outlook.com from other email addresses)

Features might also be turned off for older accounts that have been detected as compromised (hijacked). If you suspect that your account has been hijacked, see Hacked account.

If features are still turned off even after you've used your Outlook.com account regularly for a few days, or if you aren't able to verify your account, please go to the forums for help.

Notes

If you request that we send a code to your mobile phone, keep in mind that text message delivery isn't available in all countries or regions, or from all providers.

Text message delivery is subject to network delays, so it might take a few minutes to receive your code. If you've waited more than 15 minutes and haven't received the code, try requesting another code.

To prevent abuse of Outlook.com, we limit the number of times you can request a code each day. If you've reached the limit, you'll need to wait 24 hours before you can request a new code.